Breaking
by wordsdon'tcomeeasy
Summary: Ziva is contacted by someone she would much rather put behind her, and feelings between her and Tony have been brought to light. Will Rule 12 be broken? Will Ziva break down from a sudden threat to her life with NCIS? R&R to find out. Tons of Tiva love. Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS, even though I wish that I did.
1. Prologue

_Tony sat back onto the couch. He handed Ziva her popcorn and grabbed the remote. _

"_Prepare for the best movie—no, the best thing—in the world. No, the universe."_

"_Tony, it is just a movie."_

"_How dare you. It's not just a movie. It's a classic."_

"_Another classic?"_

"_Oh, you uncultured agent."_

_Ziva rolled her eyes, but decided to say nothing. Tony could go on and on about his movies. The commercials before the movie began to play, and Ziva settled into the couch. _

"_Ziva, what are you doing watching a movie with me on the weekend?"_

"_My date canceled," she replied, causing Tony to raise an eyebrow. "What?"_

"_Again?" She could hear that his voice was skeptical. _

"_I did not have any plans." Tony grinned, now believing her._

"_Same here."_

"_Why did you not have any plans?"_

_Ziva took a glance at him while sipping her coffee. Tony shrugged._

"_I don't know. I just didn't make any. Other than this plan, I mean."_

_She nodded, understanding. The movie began to play, and Ziva found herself enticed by the movie. She leaned forward, her elbows on her knees, and her hands clasped. Unlike her, Tony found himself captivated by his partner. He couldn't help but smile as he watched her reactions to scenes. _

_Too soon, the movie ended. Ziva turned to look at Tony after he said nothing, and found him looking at her. _

"_What?"_

"_Nothing. Did you like the movie?"_

"_It was very good."_

_He grinned, happy with her answer._

"_I'm glad you liked it." He stood up, and walked to the kitchen. "Now I don't know about you, but I'm hungry."_

"_When are you not hungry?"_

_Ziva followed him into the kitchen. Tony turned and made a face at her while opening the refrigerator, but didn't say anything. She peered over his shoulder to find the fridge almost empty. _

"_Tony, perhaps you should keep food in your fridge so that you can, oh I don't know, eat?"_

_He closed the refrigerator and turned to look at her, leaning against the fridge with his arms crossed._

"_I haven't had time to go grocery shopping. We'll order take-out. What would you like?"_

"_I'll eat whatever you prefer."_

"_Pizza it is."_

_He walked over to the phone and ordered their pizza. During that time, Ziva went snooping around. She exited the kitchen and walked into the bedroom, not quite realizing what she was doing. She walked over to the nightstand, her eyes on a picture on the nightstand. Ziva picked up the frame, looking down into it. She smiled at the picture and at the memory. It was a picture of Tony, Abby, her, McGee, and Palmer. They had all gone out after completing yet another tough case. As the memory raced through her mind, she didn't hear Tony enter the room. At least, not until he approached her and spoke up. His voice was barely a whisper._

"_I remember that night."_

_She looked up, still smiling._

"_So do I."_

_Her eyes met his, and for a few moments, they stayed that way. Ziva holding the picture, Tony behind her, his hand resting on the nightstand, the two looking at each other with bright eyes. They were both thinking the same thing, something that they had both been thinking for quite a while about. Both thought for a second about what the other could possibly be thinking. Tony hoped she was thinking about him, and with that hope, he managed to work up the courage to do what he had longed to do for a while._

_He leaned in and kissed her._

_**xxx**_

_Ziva awoke with a start. She murmured to herself._

"_It was just a dream. Only a dream…"_

_She frowned, and looked down. _

"_What… these are not my sheets."_

_She looked up, alert. Ziva found herself in a familiar room, with a picture of her, Tony, and the others on a nightstand._

"_So it wasn't a dream."_

It's not a dream. Tony kissed me. I kissed him back. The pizza came, so we ate. We went for a walk._ Her frown turned into a smile. _We held hands. We came back to watch another of Tony's movies. I must have fallen asleep during it.

_With her heart and mind soaring, Ziva didn't stop to think about Rule 12. She eased her way to the bathroom. As she exited it, she spotted something, rather, someone, on the couch. Ziva walked over to it, and peered around the side to find Tony underneath a blanket, his arm and leg sticking out and hanging over the edge of the couch. Chuckling, she grabbed her wallet and left the house._

_**xxx**_

_Tony rubbed his eyes as he sat up. It was light in the room, but the lights weren't on. He looked around and found that he was in his living room, sitting on the couch. Instantly, his mind flashed back to the night before, when he had kissed Ziva. She had kissed him back, but they didn't know where their relationship stood after that. Were they still friends or were they something more? _

_Only time would be able to tell. His stomach grumbled, and he grimaced. Tony hadn't eaten, and it was almost 12. He pushed himself onto his feet, and realized that there was an excellent aroma in the air. _

"_Eggs and bacon," he whispered. _

_He maneuvered around the couch and all but ran into the kitchen, where he found Ziva standing over a pan. She had changed into different clothes that were obviously hers, so he guessed that she had left for a short while during the time that he was sleeping. And by the look of the food, she had probably gone grocery shopping. He walked over and leaned against the countertop. Ziva didn't even move a muscle. _

"_Well good morning."_

"_I believe it is good afternoon, Tony. Correct?"_

_He grinned, and nodded. "Correct." He leaned over, resting his head on her shoulder to see what she was doing. Sure enough, in her pan was bacon. Although he already knew what it was, he asked anyway. _

"_Whatcha making?"_

"_Breakfast. Eggs and bacon."_

"_Brunch, Ziva. Not breakfast."_

"_Move over."_

_He moved out of her way, and she walked over to where there was a plate already halfway filled with scrambled eggs. She placed the bacon on the other side, filling the rest of the plate. She looked over at him as she placed the last pieces of bacon on the plate. _

"_I believe that you said that you didn't like sunny side up? I hope scrambled is okay."_

_Tony smiled. "You remembered. And of course it's okay. Thank you."_

_Ziva returned his smile with one of her own. "It was no problem." _

_She handed him the plate and shooed him out of the room so that she could finish unpacking the groceries and clean up after herself. _

_A while later, finally done with everything in the kitchen, Ziva walked to the living room to sit beside Tony. He was still eating. She opened her mouth to say something just as the phone rang. With a mouth full of food, Tony grabbed it and answered the call, responding first with, "Hello?" _

_He listened to the person on the other end. "Uh… sure… Director…" He gave Ziva a look that clearly read 'what the hell is going on here'. She returned the look. "I'll uh… be right there…" He hung up, putting his plate on the coffee table in front of them and turned to Ziva. _

"_Ziva, I'm so sorry. Director Vance wants my help with something over at NCIS and needs me there right away. I don't think it won't take long. Think you can camp out here until I get back?"_

_She nodded. "Go ahead. You cannot easily say no the Director. Go. I'll be here when you get back."_

_Tony got up. He gave her a quick kiss before grabbing his jacket and heading out the door._

_**xxx**_

_It was 10 o'clock, and Ziva was sitting on the couch flipping through channels on the TV. She had made herself dinner and was finishing another cup of coffee, waiting for him to come back. _

_Her cell phone rang. Hoping it was Tony calling to tell her he was driving back, she grabbed it without even looking at the caller ID. _

_The voice on the other end was not the one she had been expecting._


	2. Quiet and Noise

**A/N: Let the record show, the 'Ring, ring' is the ringing of the phone, if that wasn't obvious. In answer to your question yes, there will be more chapters to come. Enjoy. :)**

* * *

Tony watched the desk not so far in front of him. In fact, it was right across from him. If he so much as looked up, he could see it. Normally, a beautiful former Mossad agent turned NCIS special agent sat there and made snide remarks until Boss would show up, who would then tell them to shut it and get ready immediately 'cause they had a case to work on. But today, it was empty.

_Maybe she's late. She might be coming with McGee. I mean, she has before. She does come with him quite often. Why would today be any different? I mean, it's not like anything changed… majorly… She could just be mad and decided to come with Tim since I took a while helping the Director. She had left before I had ever come back and wouldn't pick up the phone so…_

He heard the elevator doors open, and looked up hopefully. All he saw was Timothy McGee. _Are you kidding? Where is she?_

As Tim passed Tony's desk, he heard a hand slam down on the desk. Tim jumped, almost spilling his coffee. Turning to face his coworker, he grimaced lightly, slightly annoyed. _It's too early to deal with this already._

"Geez, Tony. What's with the slamming?"

Tony pointed to Ziva's desk. "She's always here either before you or with you. She's not here."

Tim looked over at the desk.

"Not always. She could be running late."

Tony shot him a look.

"She's never late."

McGee sighed. _He has a point. Ziva is rarely late._

"Did you try calling her, DiNozzi?"

"Yes, I did. Three times, McGee. I also texted her."

"That seems a bit clingy and annoying. But I can't blame you. It seems as though she hasn't answered you and most probably won't. And she hasn't answered me as well."

"It's called worry. You called her, too?"

"Yes, I did. We were supposed to meet at the coffee shop two blocks from her house since her car broke down. But she'll be here. She might have accidently slept in or something. There's nothing to panic about yet. If she doesn't show up for the whole day…" He shrugged. "We can start to worry then."

McGee walked to his desk, sitting down. Tony got up and followed him. He rested his hands on the desk and leaned forward as McGee began to drink his coffee. Tim, looking up for the first time since sitting down, jumped at the sight of his coworker in his face. The only small distance between them might also have been a factor for him jumping.

"Are you kidding? Really? How many times are you planning on sneaking up on me or scaring me today, huh?"

"Ziva called you to pick her up?"

McGee's eyes darted right and left. He felt Tony was acting a bit strange, and he could swear he detected a bit of jealousy in his voice. He tried to shrug it off. _Tony? Jealous of me taking Ziva to work? That's stupid and impossible._

"Yeah, why? Is there a problem with that, Tony?"

"No reason."

DiNozzo pulled out his phone and texted Ziva again. _Where are you?_

Gibbs walked into the room. "Dead soldier on the marina. Let's go."

He grabbed his stuff, not noticing the absentee agent. Or perhaps, not caring.

The two remaining team mates quickly packed up their stuff and pulled it onto their shoulders, running towards the elevator to catch up to their boss.

Tony and Tim squeezed in beside him in the elevator.

"Uh, Boss? Ziva hasn't shown up. She's not here. Should we call her or get her or…"

Gibbs didn't even wink. _He obviously knows something. He wouldn't be this calm about her not being here if he doesn't._ After a short silence and a few floors later, he spoke.

"She took a day off, DiNozzo."

Both of the other men looked at their boss, astounded and confused. When the elevator door opened, both looked at each other as their boss exited the elevator. They had the same look in their eyes, filled with worry. McGee knew Tony was right, and Tony was dreading the fact that he was right, which was unlike him.

_Ziva is taking a day off? Why? Since when does she just take random days off when she's not seeing anyone? She doesn't take days off unless she's traveling. Ziva didn't mention going anywhere for the week. Not that I asked but… She would still tell me if she was going somewhere._

McGee was thinking something different yet similar to the frantic thoughts of the man who thought that he might be in love with the girl he works with.

_What if she disappeared again? She's not answering calls, she hasn't come to work. But then again, Gibbs seems like he knows what is going on. So she couldn't have been abducted. If Gibbs is not worried, then I definitely should not be worried. Maybe she had a rough weekend and needed time off. That's probably it. _

Gibbs on the other hand was thinking something very different from the rest of his team. He was thinking about what the soldier could possibly have done to deserve the death he had gotten.

_**XXX**_

_**Ring, ring.**_

Ziva pushed her couch farther out to the side. She had already maneuvered it so that it was not facing forward; rather, it was facing the door. She continued pushing, not caring that her arms hurt, not caring that her feet were slipping and she had to keep pushing herself up as well. It didn't matter to her. Not one bit. The pain helped her forget about the constant ringing.

_**Ring, ring.**_

In a sudden burst of energy and strength, Ziva pushed with all her might. The sofa slammed into the wall, making a sound as it hit the wall. Happy with herself, she straightened her back.

_**Ring, ring.**_

She got to work on moving the chair that acted as a one-person sofa, as she liked to say. It was easier than the couch. She moved it to stand completely against the wall. She didn't want anything in the way.

_**Ring, ring.**_

Ziva pushed and pulled the coffee table closer to the sofa. She finally got a good grip and yanked it up, putting it down on the sofa. It couldn't get in the way there.

_**Ring, ring.**_

Ziva went into another room, and came back out with a box. She took a few darts boards from inside it and screwed them together. She placed her finished pieced on the wall, where she taped it down and hung it up where a random painting had been previously.

_**Ring, ring.**_

She had had enough. Ziva didn't need to look at the caller ID to know who it was. She didn't want to hear the phone, she didn't want to hear the person speak again, and she certainly didn't want to speak to anyone. She grabbed one of the knives she had brought out and walked over to the telephone. Using her knife, she cut the cord, and the ringing stopped.

It was finally silent.


	3. Knives

Ziva stood by her couch, practicing her aim. She had moved the furniture to the side so that she could use the entire room for target practice. Far in front of her were 4 dart boards stuck together. Ziva didn't want to damage the walls, so she had put extra just in case.

On the side table to her left lay the knives; 10 to be exact.

She threw them, always having the knife land exactly where she planned for it to land. _Just like I was trained to do._ Ziva threw another one harder.

She had spent the whole day throwing knives and had spent an hour or two at a shooting range. It was nearing 11 o'clock at night, yet with each of her throws, strength grew. Her anger grew. Her terror lessened.

Ziva didn't hear the faint door knocking at first. Not until it grew louder and more persistent.

"Ziva, open up!"

"It's open!"

The door opened, and Ziva threw a knife close to where the person's head would be. She threw far enough so that it didn't touch the person, but close enough to, hopefully, scare them.

"Good aim. Thanks for, oh I don't know, killing me."

"It wouldn't have hit you, Tony." Ziva walked over to the board and pulled out two knives. She turned to look at Tony, who was still standing in the doorway, his hands in his pockets.

"You may come in, you know."

He walked in, not taking his eyes off of her. Tony closed the door and leaned against it.

"You didn't show up for work today."

He stated it as a fact rather than an accusation.

"I took a day off. It is not a big deal."

"Why? It's not like you to just take a day off only because you want to."

"Fine. I needed a day off."

"Why?"

Ziva sighed. "So I could think."

Tony's eyes tightened. "About the weekend?"

She shrugged. "That was part of it, yes."

"Then what's the other part?"

Ziva walked to the side table, putting down the knives. She say down on the seat. He walked over, sitting on it's handle. It was silent for a few moments.

"My father called last night."

Tony stiffened beside her. His voice became cold. "What did he want?"

She paused again.

"Ziva…"

"It was not important, Tony."

"You're lying."

"I am not."

"Yes, you are. I know you are."

"Fine. He wants—no, demands, my return to Mossad."

He paused. Although he felt he should know better, Tony still felt worry. Could her answer have changed?

"Uh," he coughed a bit, struggling for words. "W- What did you say?"

Ziva turned to look at him, wearing a sharp expression on her face.

"I said never, and I hung up."

He looked at her. "And that's why you didn't show up for work?"

"…Those two reasons, yes."

Tony relaxed a bit, but not enough to let his guard down.

"Did you tell Gibbs?"

"I did. I felt that he should know."

"What about McGee, Abby, and Ducky?"

"I called McGee and told him about an hour ago. I have not nor am planning to tell Abby or Ducky yet. I don't want them to worry."

"Do you think you'll be safe sleeping here?"

She shrugged. "I am not sure. It most probably is. He would not send an agent all the way out here just for me, especially in so short of a time."

For some reason, at that moment, Tony realized that he had to ask her about the weekend, find out what she thought, and soon. He had come here intending to find out why she hadn't shown up and intended to ask her and find out what she thought, but in light of the new information involving her father, he decided it would be best for her if he kept his mouth shut. _It's for the best. You'll ask her soon, no worries._

Instead, he filled her in on the case so that Ziva wouldn't be confused when she returned to work the next day. He also threw in McGee's bad joke, and to his surprise, she laughed. Together, Tony and Ziva quickly got to work on fixing the furniture.

"Wow, Ziva. You can really cause a mess moving all the furniture," he said, trying to push the sofa.

"Just push harder."

He looked up at her, his face red. "The carpet is not letting me."

She rolled her eyes, and moved over to him.

"On three."

"One...two…three."

The force correctly put the sofa back where it was supposed to go, and both glowed with exertion and achievement.

"So you're sure you'll be okay here? I mean I can—"

"I will be fine, Tony. There is absolutely no danger."

He nodded. Tony still didn't really believe her, but there was no talking Ziva out of something once she had a certain mindset. It would take a long time, and it was already late. They both had work tomorrow. Rather, Tony quickly decided that he would drive around the block, then park on the other side of the street, just to be sure. He didn't want her unprotected the whole night, just in case.

"Alright. I should get going, and you should probably get to sleep." He walked to the door, opening it. He turned his head enough to get a look at her.

"Night."

"Goodnight, Tony."

He headed to his car.

* * *

**A/N: So why did I end it with Tony heading to his car and not something else? Hm... **


	4. Gunshots

Tony slowly drove around the block. He looked at the houses or apartments from the distance and decided to go for another circle just for good measure. He didn't think anything of it.

He pulled into a spot, which, luckily, someone had just freed up. It had a perfect view of the door and his car could not be seen. Tony checked to make sure of that. He was also glad that he had bought two coffees but had left Ziva's in the car. At least I won't fall asleep on her now.

As he brought the half full coffee cup to his lips, gunshots filled the quiet.

**xxx**

Ziva pulled on the pants of her pajamas. With her tank top and long pants on, she was almost ready to go to bed. Her handgun was under her pillow. She followed Gibbs' rule, and slept with one, just in case. Turning off the bathroom light, she headed to the kitchen and turned that light off. From there, Ziva walked into the living room. She left on a small lamp that ran on batteries since she had had nightmares the night before and in case she had them tonight, she did not want to bump into any more furniture. She turned off the main light and opened the door to her bedroom. Ziva felt her blood turn cold as she looked at her bed.

Normally, it would be empty. But now, Ziva watched as a man got up from lying on her bed, swinging her handgun around as though it were only a toy.

She knew better than to rush at someone who was obviously a Mossad agent. And she certainly knew better than to rush at an agent who was sent by her father.

"Why are you here?" Her voice was cold, and she displayed no emotion. She knew not to show fear.

Her 'guest' finished getting up, and stood at the foot of her bed.

"The real question is why you are here. Have you abandoned your country? Your father? Your agency? Where does your loyalty really lay, Ziva David?"

"It lies with NCIS, and my friends here." She paused for a moment. "Now get out of my home."

The man laughed, but his laughter didn't meet his eyes. "I cannot do that."

"Why not?"

"I am here following orders, of course. Your father's orders to be specific."

"And what were my father's orders?"

"Either you relent, and return to Israel and Mossad, or you die."

Her eyes widened. _I have to run. He will kill me. I will not return to Mossad. Israel yes, but never Mossad._ Ziva looked into the man's eyes. She blasted out the door, but he was faster. In the middle of the living room, he pushed her in an effort to grab her, and she fell over the table. She scrambled to get up, and to her surprise, she did.

Ziva took a look, and found the attacker at the front door, aiming at her. Before she could react, a piercing pain ripped somewhere in her stomach area, and she cried out in pain. She fell backwards onto the floor, her back resting in a slouched form against the sofa. Her legs were sprawled on the floor. She looked down, and saw blood coming through, soaking her shirt. Picking her hand up, she applied pressure to the wound, and moaned. The edges of her vision were black.

"Ziva!"

_Tony. He will find me. Maybe…maybe…_

"Ziva!"

She didn't have the energy to answer his call. Her hand slipped from her stomach.

The last thing she saw was a blurry figure.

**xxx**

Tony got out of his car in a hurry, dropping his coffee. He saw something rush out of the house, but quickly decided not to head after him.

Ziva was in the house, and she had probably gotten shot. There was no time to worry about the person. _I'm not going to lose her like I lost Kate._

Running, he pulled out his phone and texted Gibbs.

Ziva shot send help.

He pressed send, and looked back up, pushing the door open. "Ziva!"

Frantically, Tony looked around. _She has to be somewhere here._

"Ziva!"

_Come on, make some sort of noise._

Now anxious, he started walking toward the bedroom, when his eyes swept over the room, and something hidden behind the coffee table caught his eye. He jogged up to it, and caught his breath.

There on the floor was Ziva. She was surrounded by a pool of blood, and her eyes were closed.

"Ziva!" Tony collapsed onto his knees beside her. Seeing where the blood was coming from and seeing the hole in her stomach, he quickly checked her pulse. She's still breathing. He pressed his hands on the hole to try to stop the blood flow, or at least limit it.

"Stay with me Ziva, please. Stay with me."

**xxx**

Gibbs sat in the basement, carving away. He was working on the boat again, and took a break to take a sip of his beer. As he brought it to his lips, his phone rang. Naturally, Gibbs' eyes rolled. He picked it up and set his beer down, looking at the caller ID. It was a text, one of the things that Gibbs wasn't fond of. He opened his phone. The text was from Tony.

As Gibbs read the short text, he got up from his chair and ran out of the house. He dialed for an ambulance.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry that it's a bit shorter than the usual chapter. I'll update again either tomorrow or Saturday to make up for it. Thank you for all the follows and reviews, it means a lot! **


	5. A Worried Family

The team sat in the waiting room of the hospital. Well, Ducky, Palmer, and Gibbs were sitting. Tony paced back and forth. McGee had ran off to get them all coffee. Abby was standing at the front desk, begging the nurses for information. Nobody spoke. They were all silent, worried about their fellow teammate. It hadn't been long since Ziva was rushed in, but it felt like hours to all of them.

"Dammit, where's McGee?"

Gibbs stood up, now annoyed with the young agent and his absence. He headed toward the coffee shop on the other end of the street. Tony walked in a different direction, a direction leading farther into the hospital. He opened the door to the men's bathroom. As he stood, he looked toward the door that was openening, half expecting to find Ziva walking in. But it was just some guy, another person on this planet who had no connection to Ziva or the team.

_**xxx Flashback xxx**_

_Tony kneeled over her, his hands pressing into Ziva's stomach. She has to live. I can't lose her. I just won't. _

_Out of the blue, and to his relief, ambulance sirens pierced the quiet, getting louder with every screech. He heard a car screech to a stop._

"_In here!" _

_Gibbs ran inside, followed by a bunch of paramedics and a stretcher. As soon as they were right behind him, Tony moved back, letting the paramedics take control of the situation. They could save Ziva, but there was nothing more he could do at the moment. Gibbs and Tony watched Ziva being rushed out of the house and into the ambulance, the medical team already at work. They had to stay behind for a few moments in order to figure out exactly what happened. Vance had understood when Gibbs had called and told him that it wouldn't be right if someone else tried to figure out who had shot Ziva, especially since the team already had some experience with things like these._

_McGee was already on the way. The three silently looked for evidence, dusted for fingerprints, and drove out to the hospital._

**xxx**

Tony put his hands on the wall, leaning into them. _She'll be okay. She's Ziva. She has to be okay. It's not going to help any if I'm in the bathroom worrying. _

Straightening himself up, trying not to look at the blood still on his shirt and trying not to think of whose it is, he walked out of the bathroom.

**xxx**

Abby stomped back to where the others sat. Sitting in what was Gibbs' seat, she made an aggravated noise.

"What's wrong, Abigail?"

"The nurses won't tell me anything. They won't even check what's happening."

Ducky put his arm around her.

"We will know when they know."

Her voice lowered to a whisper. "I'm scared. I don't want her to die, Ducky."

"She won't. She's strong."

**xxx**

Gibbs walked into the coffee shop, scanning the room for McGee. He found him standing in line, and went up to him.

"McGee!"

McGee whipped around to find himself right in front of his boss.

"Yeah, Boss?"

"What's taking so long?"

He pointed to the line still stretching in front of them.

"There's a line."

Gibbs sighed. _Of course there has to be a line. This is going to be a long night._

**xxx**

Gibbs and McGee finally returned with a bunch of coffee cups minutes after Tony had come back from the bathroom. McGee sat himself by Tony, who was now surrounded by both Tim and Abby. Gibbs stood, towering over the rest of the team as they waited for just a word from a nurse, a simple 'she's fine' or a horrid 'I'm sorry'. Something to ease their fears, or confirm them. No one on the team felt they could take it much longer. Even Ducky felt like getting out of the chair and screaming. Tony's mind had wandered off a while ago, and to pass the time, he was thinking of random memories from all the years that this team had worked together; starting with the first day that he had met Ziva, up until now. He had realized that they all had been through a lot of ups, and just as many downs, but this was one of the worst downs. It was almost as bad as when they had lost Kate.

With Kate it had been different. Tony had finally accepted the fact that there was nothing he, nor Gibbs, could have done to save her. It had taken a while, but he got there. With Ziva, she had a chance. He could have saved her. He could have forced her to let him stay and watch her_. I should have checked the house before leaving._ Now, her life depended on the doctors and nurses and if they could somehow save her.

But they couldn't do anything right now but wait. So they sat, seemingly patient while they were bursting inside.

An hour later, a nurse started walking towards them. All of their heads lifted, and Gibbs turned around to face the woman. She looked pale, but confident. That had to be a good sign, right? Her eyes were on Gibbs.

"Are you Special Agent Gibbs?"

"Yes, I am."

Tony spoke up, his rocky voice filled with worry, exhaustion, a small pinch of hope. "She's going to be okay, right?"

The nurse smiled lightly. "She just came out of surgery. Luckily, the bullet missed her major organs and it missed anything major. We gave her a blood transfusion and she should be fine."

Seeing how everyone lit up and started smiling, she added, "However, she did lose a lot of blood. Ms. David was already unconscious when she arrived, and we had to give her more sedatives to keep her that way through out the surgery. She won't be awake for a quite a few hours, and I am going to warn you, when she does wake up, due to her rapid blood loss earlier, she may be a little… disoriented. Possibly delusional due to the sedatives."

Palmer, Ducky, Abby, and Tim nodded. Gibbs and Tony didn't react at first. All were exuberant, now that they knew that Ziva was going to be okay. Abby hugged Ducky, and Palmer grinned. Tony and Tim shared a small hug, and Gibbs couldn't resist a smile.

Tony asked the question before anyone else could. "Can we go see her?"

The nurse looked at the group of 6. She analyzed the expressions in their eyes; their pure joy, the look of worry still lingering, the father like worry and happiness in the standing man's eyes, and the hope in the eyes of the woman. To her, the way they all sat, looked at each other, and seemed around each other made it feel as though they were a family, even though she knew they weren't one biologically.

"Room 3B. Second floor."

They thanked her, and she had to remind them not to run as they made for Ziva's room.

The team had expected her to look not quite like herself; it was usual for a bullet victim to be pale, but Ziva took them by surprise.


	6. Hallucinations

Ziva found herself lying on a floor. Opening her eyes, she saw the white floor and her hand in front of her. Her head felt as though someone had thrown a brick at it. She sat up, rubbing her temples, murmuring to herself.

"Where am I?"

She looked around, to find herself in a pure white area, and it seemed to never end. Ziva's eyes widened, confused.

"What is going on? Hello?"

A noise echoed from somewhere.

"Tony? McGee? Gibbs?"

A shadow appeared not far in front of her, and Ziva rushed to her feet, but a pain in her stomach brought her back down to her knees. She looked down to find her shirt slowly yet surely turning a dark red. _Blood._

Hearing something moving in front of her, Ziva looked up. Of everything in the world that could have been in front of her, it had to be Kate. Kate was just sitting there, looking at Ziva, with a small smile playing around on her lips.

"Hello Ziva."

Ziva struggled for words. _She cannot be alive. Kate is dead. Ari killed her. What is going on here?_

"Y-You are dead. What are you doing here?"

This time, Kate grinned.

"I may be dead, but I still live in the memory. Thank you for saving Gibbs from Ari. That must have taken courage. You have a lot of it, Special Agent David. I think you earn that title."

She was speechless. What was she supposed to say to the woman who was supposedly dead for years? Kate leaned forward, putting her hands on Ziva's, which were now coated with blood. As Kate placed her hands over Ziva's, the blood slowly started disappearing. Ziva tore her eyes away from Kate long enough to see that the blood that had covered her shirt was now gone. She looked back into Kate's mischievous eyes.

"Let me show you around."

Kate stood up, dragging Ziva up along with her; Kate was still clutching Ziva's hands. She let go of one, swinging the other one excitedly.

"Where are we going?"

Kate kept moving forward, her head now turned so that Ziva could only see the back of her head. _Where could we be going? There is nothing here but a big white…space! _

"I'm taking you to your memories, and your nightmares."

She continued tugging the Israeli through the seemingly empty space, knowing the way around by heart, even if you couldn't tell the difference between the floor and the ceiling.

After what seemed like forever of Ziva being dragged by the former agent, Kate stopped, and Ziva crashed into her, instantly backing away.

"Here we are."

Kate opened a pale pink door that Ziva hadn't seen before. The two went in.

**xxx**

Ziva didn't know what was going on at first. She was at the bottom of the stairs leading to Gibbs' basement, standing with Kate on her side, still holding her hand. Gibbs was not far in front of them, talking.

"W-"

"Pay attention, Ziva."

Ziva focused on the scene, trying to remember. Then she noticed Ari standing in front of Gibbs, and she felt her breath catch.

"Do they see us?"

"No. They can't hear us either."

Ziva watched the scene unfurl, Ari approaching Gibbs, holding his rifle, explaining his intent. Ari aiming. Her past self shooting. Her telling Gibbs that Ari was her half-brother.

"You killed your brother…to save me?"

Kate lightly pulled Ziva back out through the door. Ziva felt a tug in her heart, but pushed the feeling back down, trying to ignore it.

**xxx**

"Why did you show me that?"

Kate ignored her, and continued walking, making sure that Ziva follows by holding her hand tightly. Ziva tried to stop, but Kate would let her. _Ziva doesn't see the importance of this yet. She will eventually. She'll never leave if she doesn't see it._

She opened another door, and stood to it's side, looking at Ziva. Ziva raised an eyebrow.

"I am not going in there first."

Kate rolled her eyes. "Yes, you are."

Ziva's eyes narrowed. _Should I trust her?_ She removed the thought from her brain almost as quickly as it had entered. _Yes, I should. The team did before, and I should be able to do the same. She is the sane one here._

She went inside, closing her eyes. She didn't want to see the scene, not yet. Not until she heard Kate's footsteps behind her.

Of course, she heard Kate's footsteps immediately when Ziva stopped, following her.

"Keep going inside."

Finally, Kate stopped her, and Ziva's eyes shot open. It was the office, the same office she worked in every day at NCIS. But everyone looked different. This was years ago. Ziva hadn't been working at NCIS for long, and the rest of the team was still adjusting to having Ziva around rather than Kate.

She was walking to her desk, and stood in front of it when Tony made his usual remark. She answered him back, and the banter went on for a few seconds. At least until Gibbs appeared. This was how almost every day started, and how many days ended.

xxx

The two were out of the door again, and in front of yet another one. This time, Ziva went inside first, without even being asked. She now trusted Kate. _Kate wouldn't harm me. Why would she?_

Kate didn't follow her in. She had already went into the room once before, and didn't intend to go in again. This was one of Ziva's more personal moments with the team, and Kate didn't want to intrude on that.

Ziva went farther inside, standing in the corner of the room.

Tony was strapped to a chair, dirty and a bit bruised. McGee was on the floor, also dirty and seemingly bruised. He looked as though he was unconscious. The room was brown, dirt like color. There was only one window.

She recognized it immediately and gasped. Her heart began to beat faster, and she felt a small urge to puke. _Out of all the rooms she could lead me to…_

Ziva watched as Saleem dragged her into the room, a sack over her head. He took it off, and watched Tony's face, which tried not to convey any shock.

She stood there, still watching, watching as one of the things she had longed to forget replayed in front of her, clear as day.

"Tony, what are you doing here?"

She watched as he squirmed in his seat.

"Couldn't live without you, I guess."

Saleem re-entered the room, the atmosphere in the room becoming more desperate and terrifying. Not soon enough, a bullet shot through the window, and her captor for the last few months was dead. McGee helped them break free, and the two helped her get up, putting her arms around their shoulders to hold her up. She followed them as they started to leave. They walked through the halls, McGee shooting at some points.

Finally, they saw a figure at the end of a hall.

_Gibbs._

"Let's go home."

xxx

Ziva and Kate went through more doors. Kate had once again taken Ziva's hand, and the two went into each of the rest of the doors together.

They went through Ziva staying at Abby's house, they went through some moments with the whole team, they went through the moment when Tony and Ziva had stayed behind at work and watched a movie together. They went through many key moments in Ziva's life that had to do with the team. The two even stopped at the door that contained the memory of entering her home and finding Michael dead at the hands of Tony. The time in Paris. The time Tony and Ziva had gone undercover. So many different times, with all the people that meant the world to her.

Finally, they entered the most recent moment. The moment that Tony and Ziva kissed. They hadn't been undercover; they had been releasing their true feeling for one another.

Ziva, tired, sad, and staying strong, followed Kate to the next door. She had realized why Kate was showing her all these moments in her life. Kate wanted her to remember to appreciate it all. Ziva had almost lost all of this again when she had refused help. She could have died at the hands of Mossad, and slipped out of their lives just like Kate had.

Before she opened it, Kate turned to her.

"This is the last door. Where we say goodbye. Tell the team thank you for me. I never got to tell them that."

"I will, Kate. I will."

* * *

**A/N: I'm not 100% sure yet why exactly I made Ziva hallucinate... But the next chapter will be a bit more normal. I hope. And thank you for all the reviews! Hopefully I won't get any major writer's block again so that I can update soon.**


	7. Sleeping Beauty

Tony sat on Ziva's right, holding her hand and stroking it. Ducky and Palmer sat next to him. McGee sat on the opposite side, holding her other hand. Next to him sat Abby, who was patting Ziva's leg. Gibbs and Vance stood at the foot of the bed, one of them occasionally sitting in its edge.

All of them were nervous. Yes, the nurse said Ziva would be fine. But it had been two hours since they had entered the room. They were still waiting for their team member to wake up, and it worried them. Her pale face and hands worried them. The cold feeling in her hands worried them. The fact that she still wasn't waking up scared them. She seemed restless; her heartbeat rose at times, and dropped at other times, giving both the team and the nurses a small shock. But they all had to remain calm. If so much as one of them started displaying fear, the others would, too. They had to hold each other up, and they couldn't crash. Not now.

They talked to her to pass the time. Tony made random jokes and talked about random movies. Abby told her about her nuns and their bowling nights. McGee informed her on some of the new games he was trying out. Ducky told long stories that Gibbs eventually intervened. Gibbs talked about random things, and only for short periods of time. Palmer made jokes about getting another henna tattoo. Even Vance spoke up, talking about what they could do next Christmas; they could all help decorate the office and make it look amazing.

Her eyes would flicker on occasion, as though she heard their voices. They didn't know she was hearing their voices, but their voices from the past, from years ago, when she was either still a liaison or just a mere probie.

**xxx**

Ziva entered the last door, their goodbyes said. Everything went black, and she heard a voice. It was Ducky's; he was telling another 'riveting' story about his past. Suddenly she heard a deeper voice, a voice that she instantly recognized as Gibbs'.

_Where is Kate? Why is it dark? What is going on?_

She tried to get her eyes open, but it felt like there was something on them, something heavy, and she couldn't bring herself to open them. Ziva started to panic.

**xxx**

Gibbs interrupted another of Ducky's stories. Ducky laughed. "He isn't going to stop doing that is he?"

"It's been twenty minutes, Ducky."

"B-"

Suddenly, Ziva's eyes fluttered again. All was suddenly silent as the team's hopes rose again, hoping that this would be the time that she woke up. Her left hand twitched, and McGee's eyes widened.

"Boss…"

The fingers on each of her hands started twitching, as though they were clawing something, and the boys let go of her hands, confused.

Abby was the one who decided to chant Ziva on. She figured her friend was trying to wake up.

"Hey Ziva! C'mon! Wake up already!"

**xxx**

Pressure lifted of off her hands as she struggled to open her eyes. Ziva heard a familiar female voice. _Abby._ She started hearing more voices, a bunch of them. She was able to distinguish her name as one of the words they were saying. Ziva kept trying to open her eyes, and the pressure she had felt on them was slowly getting lighter, and she was a fighter. She wasn't going to give up, even though she was getting tired from tried to, well, wake up. She felt her eyelashes brushing her skin and the next thing she knew, the pressure disappeared, making her eyelids feel light. Ziva opened them, the grey room around her blurry. Figures surrounded her, but she couldn't tell one from the other. Disoriented, she lifted a hand up and, feeling someone take it, looked to the right. Her vision bobbed again, making it blurrier. By this time, she could hear the voices around her fairly well.

"Ziva?"

"Hey Ziva! Are you awake?"

"Ziva!"

Her vision bounced, shifting as though she were dizzy, and the black rims in her vision disappeared. The blurry figures turned into something solid and turned into humans. They turned into the faces and figures of the team she had worked years with. A team that had become her family. A family that once again, had saved her life. Ziva's eyes wandered around the room, starting to the right. Her breath caught as she looked up at Tony's worried yet smiling face. She moved on to see Ducky, then on to see Palmer. Gibbs had a funny expression on his face. It was one of his lop sided smiles, but his eyes were also filled with relief. Vance was giving his old grin, although it was bigger than usual. Abby was grinning, sitting and wiggling, looking like she had won a billion dollars and was ready to explode. _Win some money... wait… what is the expression? Win some dollars? Win a million dollars? That does not sound right…_ Next to Abby sat McGee, whose laugh was actually full of joy.

She smiled at them, and they all burst.

"Ziva! You're awake!"

"Ziva!"

"How are you feeling?"

Everyone was overlapping, the atmosphere turning from depressing to joyous in a split second. Ziva's smile grew as she watched her colleagues, and wasn't sure how to respond to them. Gibbs attempted to settle them all down.

"Quiet! Don't expect Ziva to answer any of you when you're all screaming at her."

Vance added on, saying, "And she's probably tired."

Abby rolled her eyes. "She had plenty of sleep."

McGee chuckled, and Gibbs gave her a smile.

"No, I am not tired."

McGee and Tony took her hands back into theirs, and her pale face lit up a bit at their touches.

"We'll get him Ziva." It was Tony's voice, and it was firm. A promise.

She shook her head, disbelieving.

"Do you have any idea who could have attacked you?"

Ziva shook her head again. Tony groaned. Everyone in the room was certain that she at least knew something about the person who had attacked her.

"Was he in Mossad?"

Ziva didn't speak at first. Out of nowhere, she decided that she wanted to speak to Kate. To ask her what she thought. After all, Kate wouldn't harm her or yell at her. And Ziva suddenly missed the girl that had showed Ziva around her past; who had shown Ziva who Ziva really was.

"I want to see Kate."

A pin could be dropped and everyone would be able to hear it, if one had been inclined to drop a pin. Every person in the room was shocked to hear Kate's name again, especially on Ziva's lips. But to hear that Ziva wanted to see Kate? Kate, who had been dead for years.

Ducky was the one who remembered that the nurse had said that Ziva might be delusional. _Ziva must have dreamt that she was with Kate. _He tapped her leg, and she looked at him, confused.

"Where is she?"

"She went home. Now get some sleep." When he was Ziva about to protest, he added, "Caitlin will be here when you wake up."

No one questioned Ducky. They figured that he knew what he was doing when telling their fellow agent this. Ziva laid her head on the pillow, getting comfortable. She fell asleep in minutes.

"Ducky… what was that?"

"She was delusional, Abigail. She must have dreamed about Caitlin and believed her to still be alive. The medication must still have been working hard in her blood. By the time she wakes up, Ziva won't be asking about her."

The team decided to go back to the bullpen to continue working on the two cases that they now had to manage. Tony decided to stay with Ziva, arguing that someone should be there when she wakes up and to watch over her. No one questioned it, and so he stayed, her hand in his, watching her sleep.

* * *

**A/N: Next chapter will finally be some Tiva. Dun dun dun.**


	8. Time

Tony leaned back in his chair, stretching. What time is it? He checked the relatively large clock on the wall, and wasn't shocked to find that it was late in the evening. Ziva had woken up for the first time in the morning; he had fallen asleep two hours after she had fallen back to sleep. Naturally, he had slept for hours. He checked his phone to make sure that Gibbs hadn't tried to contact him and found nothing.

Tony opted not to call his boss. Ziva hadn't woken up yet, so technically there was no reason to call. He got up and stood by the window, desperate to get out of the chair. It was still light outside, and you saw the cars coming and going from the parking lot outside. Tony had been thinking a lot during the time that he was waiting for Ziva to wake up both times, and he was still thinking.

_What is going to happen to Ziva and me? I know I have feelings for her. I know there's something there. More than what was there with Jeanne, I think. But does she feel the same way? She hasn't been acting like it. She seems… mad at me. But why?_ He scratched his head. They were questions that couldn't get out of his head. _Could she possibly feel something to? She did kiss me back._ The questions taunted him. Tony knew he wouldn't be getting an answer anytime soon, and thinking about all the possibilities were going to drive him crazy.

Looking out the window, he didn't notice Ziva opening her eyes and quietly turning her head to look at him. She smiled as she watched him look outside, scratching his head nonchalantly. She knew no one else was in the room other than them two. When he turned around, she knew that he would probably confront her again about what had happened over the weekend. Ziva couldn't ignore it forever.

Ziva knew that she loved Tony. She couldn't bear to be without him, even if they had to only be teammates. She wanted to be in his company; in fact, she loved being in his company, even if she complains about it. But there was Rule 12. _Could we break it? But if Gibbs found out we could lose our jobs. Or he would never trust or forgive us. I could not live with something like that._

She kept watching him, and she heard him sigh. Tony turned around. Looking into Ziva's eyes as they watched him, he approached her.

"Good… evening."

"Same to you."

"How are you feeling?"

"Well enough. You look tired, Tony."

He grinned. "I shouldn't. I've slept for hours."

"But you have been staying up late at night."

His eyes narrowed. He didn't understand why she was concerned, but it gave him a bit of hope. Maybe she does like me more than just a partner. "I'm fine, Ziva. You're the one that's lying in a hospital bed."

"But I will be fine, Tony."

"I know."

They looked at each other, not knowing what to say next. They didn't have to say anything. The atmosphere didn't feel awkward to them, although it might have seemed that way to an observer. But the two were settling into a routine, a routing filled with pointless banter. It was something they both needed from each other, just a bit of normalcy.

Tony straightened up, and took her hand. Ziva felt a bit shocked at the sudden gesture, but didn't react to it. She didn't want to. His face turned from soft to serious.

"Who shot you? And don't tell me that you don't know."

She sighed. Ziva hadn't wanted to talk about it. She didn't want to think that her own father could have sent someone to kill her.

She looked away from Tony, staring at the door. Ziva hoped a nurse would rush in so that she didn't have to answer the question. Noticing that she wasn't about to answer him, Tony took her face into his hand and gently turned it back to face him. His voice was soft again.

"Ziva… you have to tell me. We need to catch him."

"He is probably already in Israel…"

"Then we'll have to go there then."

"Tony…"

"Don't, Ziva. No one is just going to try to kill you and get away with it! Do you know who it was?"

She shook her head lightly, not being able to move it much with Tony's hand still cradling her cheek and chin.

"No. It was someone from Mossad though. Someone high up who is very trustworthy."

"Trustworthy enough to…"

"Be sent by my father, yes."

He nodded. Tony knew it must be hard for Ziva. But he couldn't help himself. He leaned down and kissed her forehead. Against her forehead, he murmered, "We'll catch the guy. No one will ever hurt you again, Ziva David. Not under my watch. Not ever."

Ziva closed her eyes as she felt Tony's lips touch her forehead. She knew it was wrong, but she couldn't help but think of how it felt so right. It felt so natural between them. She wanted to be with Tony, she couldn't deny it. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with him, even. She wanted to be safe, curled in his arms, and watch his favorite classics with him, and laugh at what he would tell her were the wrong parts. And yet, there was Gibbs' rule.

Ziva hadn't forgotten what she now realized was a dream. Kate had taught her something, something important. Ziva wasn't about to forget it. She had come so close to losing everyone that meant the world to her far to many times. She had to take advantage of all the moments she was with them- who knows when the last moment could be.

Like Tony, she couldn't help herself either, and with the lessons of Kate still swirling in her mind, her emotions were running high. Tony being so close, his cologne filling her nose, and his words melted her. Her wall broke, and she moved her head upwards. Her lips met his. They kissed, forgetting that their boss could walk in, forgetting it all. At that moment, it was just Tony and Ziva, no one more, and no one less.

They pulled away, gasping for breath.

Tony's voice had a small pinch of concern and even more obvious feeling.

"Ziva.. I'm sorry. You must have so much on your mind. I'll give you all the time you need."

She looked up at him, her eyes soft, like her voice.

"I do not need time."

* * *

**A/N: Wah. I probably disappointed all of you with this chapter. I've kind of disappointed myself, too. Either way, now that she'll be getting out of the hospital in the next chapter, I can take Tony and Ziva farther. ;)**


	9. Casa De Abby

Gibbs stood in front of the desk at the hospital. The doctor had told them that Ziva could be released, and he was signing her release papers. It should have felt weird. After all, he was signing his co-workers papers to be let out of a hospital. But it didn't, at least not to him. To him, it felt almost normal. Ziva stood by him, leaning against the desk, looking at him. He turned his head to look at her as he signed the last thing.

"What?"

"Nothing."

He rolled his eyes, smiling lightly.

Gibbs led the way out of the hospital. Tony and Ziva were directly behind him, and Abby trotted alongside them. McGee was already in the car, waiting. It had been determined that Ziva would be staying at Abby's when not at work. Ziva had been stubborn, and had demanded to return to work. Vance had granted her wish. She could work mainly in the bullpen while the others did more of the work outside. She was fine with it. Gibbs was allowing her to do most of the interrogations so that she would have something to do.

Since it was only the afternoon, the team headed straight for NCIS headquarters. Gibbs didn't want to waste any time. After all, there were two cases that they had been assigned.

The team readily got to the NCIS, seeing that Gibbs demanded to drive. No one was happy with that, and everyone had their seatbelts on and were holding on to either each other or to a handle.

Abby headed down to her lab while the others headed for the bullpen. The elevator ride was silent. Exiting the elevator, they headed straight for their desks, settling into their usual routine. As Tony turned on his computer, he couldn't help but sneak a glimpse at the desk in front of him. Seeing Ziva at the desk already typing away made him happier than he already was; he missed seeing her everyday at work. He looked back to his computer screen.

xxx

Hours later, after what seemed like countless interviews, interrogations, and lab samples along with results, the team had successfully put away yet another killer. The killer of the dead soldier had been his female childhood friend; she was jealous. At this point, it was dark outside, and Abby was upstairs by Ziva's desk, waiting for her friend to finish typing up part of her report.

"C'mon Ziva."

"I am hurrying, Abby."

"Type faster."

"Done!"

McGee had already gone home, and DiNozzo still lingered. He didn't want to leave before Ziva did. Naturally, Gibbs still sat by his desk. Abby and Ziva said their goodbyes to their colleagues, and they headed to the elevator. Abby chattered away the entire ride down and the car ride to her home. It was her way of easing any tensions. Back in the office, everything was more or less silent. DiNozzo shifted uncomfortably in his chair, desperate to finish his paper quickly, yet comfortably. Gibbs sat there, doing whatever Gibbs does, when he finally spoke up.

"DiNozzo."

"Yeah, Boss? His head snapped up to look at Gibbs, who was looking down at something.

"Get outta here. You can finish tomorrow."

"You sure, Boss."

"Yeah, go get some sleep. You look like you need it."

"Thanks, Boss. Night."

Gibbs didn't respond.

Tony grabbed his jacket and left, smiling to himself as he stood in the elevator. Taking out his phone, he texted Ziva. _'How's everything at Casa De Abby?'_

Feeling her phone buzzing in her pocket, she looked over into the kitchen, where Abby was doing something at involved the rattling of what seemed to be every pan she owned. She took out her phone, keeping it close to her pocket just in case.

'_It is interesting.' _

'_I bet. I wish you were staying at my place.'_

'_Abby's is safer.'_

'_What do you mean?'_

'_It wouldn't draw suspicions.'_

'_It's been an hour and I miss you already.'_

Ziva smiled. She didn't mean to. It had come naturally, the way you suddenly catch yourself dreaming in class or at work. She smiled, and didn't know she was doing it as she read Tony's text, pondering what to send him back. Ziva didn't hear her friend sneak up behind her, reading the text over her shoulder with her mouth wide open. Abby didn't say anything at first. She wanted to make sure that what she was reading was right. Besides, she hadn't seen who had sent the text.

"Um, Ziva!? Who is missing you!?"

Ziva's head snapped up, turning to look at Abby. She tried to shove her phone back into her pocket, but, being nervous, couldn't seem to get the phone into the small pocket in her jeans, let alone find it.

"Uh, no one Abby."

"Liar!"

Abby reached down, trying to get the phone, leaning over the couch. "Let me see!"

Ziva struggled to hide her phone from her friend. She couldn't let Abby know about her and Tony's relationship. It was still all too new, and she didn't want everyone to find out to quickly.

"Oh my gosh Ziva! Are you secretly dating anyone!?" Abby couldn't help but gush at her friend, who she was still fighting to get the phone from. She loved the thought of Ziva seeing someone. It had been a while since she had heard of a flame in Ziva's life, and Abby just wanted Ziva to be happy. She also wanted to know who this flame happened to be. After all, what are friends for, right?

"ZIVA! GIVE ME THE PHONE!"

"No!"

At this point, Ziva was twisting and turning in her seat, refusing to let Abby, who had the higher view point advantage, win. Abby on the hand, refused to give up on her retrieval of the phone. Ziva bolted off of the couch, with Abby beginning to chase her. The two ran around the couch, stopping occasionally to try to trick the other into going a different way. After almost ten frantic minutes, Ziva's stomach began to throb. She wasn't supposed to be doing any hard work, including running, and Ziva quickly grew tired, slowing down as she tried to avoid Abby's reaching hands. But nonetheless, Abby caught up, yanking the phone from Ziva's hand. She ran to the bedroom, closing the door so that Ziva couldn't get the phone back quite yet.

Looking through the texts, Abby's eyes widened. She didn't know whether she should be happy about this newly seeming development or worried. Rereading the texts, she smiled. She figured she should be happy for them two, but warn them about the consequences anyway. Abby knew they knew about Rule 12. It was obvious that they were willing to try anyway, which she figured that Gibbs appreciated. _If he even knows. Does he know? _

Ziva sat back down on the couch, sighing. Abby will tell Gibbs. _Tony and I might lose our jobs. But maybe… just maybe… _

Abby entered the room, her footsteps louder this time. Ziva didn't look up. Abby crossed over to where she sat, sitting next to her. She put the phone into Ziva's lap.

"I'm sorry, Ziva. I shouldn't have done that."

"Do not be sorry, Abby. There is nothing to be sorry about. I should have told you."

Abby twiddled her finger.

"How long have you two been…"

"Since the second day in the hospital. Officially at least."

This time, Abby looked at her, confusion lining her face.

"What do you mean?"

"We kissed a while ago… Before my father contacted me…"

Abby nodded. She had expected as much. _At least it hasn't been that long of a time._

"Have you told Gibbs?"

Ziva shook her head feverishly. "No. No one knows about Tony and me but you."

Abby's head lifted all the way, suddenly flying on air knowing the fact that she was the first to learn about their relationship.

"Are you planning to?"

"Yes, of course. He will piece it together eventually anyway. We would rather tell him ourselves, rather than him finding out." Ziva made sure to stress the point saying that Tony and she will tell him. She didn't want Abby slipping up.

Abby nodded. "Of course. I won't tell a soul, Ziva. I promise. I swear on Bert."

Ziva laughed. She knew the plush hippo that lived in Abby's lab and farted when you squeezed him. The better question was: who didn't know Bert?

But as the two continued talking, Ziva realized the impending doom that she felt coming nearer and nearer. Gibbs needed to be told. She thought of how Tony was scared of Gibbs. He would never admit it, but she knew it. She could tell. He never could hide too much from her. As the two woman talked about Ziva's newfound relationship, Ziva decided that she would tell Gibbs. And she planned to do it that night.


	10. Tell or Take

It was nearing eleven at night. Most were sleeping, some might still have been hard at work in an office or such, some were fooling around, some were working on their dreams, and Ziva David was wide awake. She waited until Abby fell asleep, or at least seemed to be asleep. She watched the clock. She had already decided she would leave at 11, since Gibbs would probably still be working on his boat or possibly eating. Under her pajamas were her jeans and a tank top, which she had cleverly disguised with a pair of baggy sweats and a super loose shirt that Abby had taken her to get from her home.

The clock changed to eleven, and Ziva yanked off the covers as though it were a natural reflex, as though she wasn't dreading the fact that in just minutes, she may get both her and Tony fired from the job that they both loved. But she had to tell Gibbs. It ate away at her, the thought of keeping something like this from him. She couldn't do it, not to him. Gibbs knew so much about her, and she knew so much about him. She trusted him so much, and Ziva wanted him to be able to trust her as well. And keeping a secret of such magnitude that went against the rules that they were supposed to follow as a team was not trust. It was more like deception, to both her and him. She felt as though she just had to, just as though one has to breathe. And so she took Abby's keys from the coffee table and headed to her car.

Ziva drove straight to Gibbs' house, only stopping at the lights and at stop signs. She didn't make any pits stops, although she realized that Abby should have gotten gas. It wouldn't matter. It wasn't that far. She parked on the other side of the street, staring at the house. She started to worry. Ziva had no idea what she was going to tell him and how she was going to tell him. She had avoided thinking of things like that so that she wouldn't freak out. And now she was here, in front of his house, and she had to go in and tell him in some sort of way. Her eyes tight and her knees slightly shaking, Ziva left the car and walked to the other side of the street.

She didn't bother knocking. There wasn't any point. You could faintly see the light coming from the basement, providing that you knew where to look. She opened the door, feeling a bit braver, and her knees stopped shaking. She went to the stairs and headed down to the basement, being sure to be loud enough so that Gibbs could hear her.

As she reached of the bottom of the stairs, Ziva found Gibbs carving away. He didn't bother to look up. She pulled a stool over and sat across from him, her hands in her lap. After a few moments of silence, he looked up. He looked a bit curious, curious as to why she was in his basement. His voice was low as he spoke.

"You should be at Abby's."

"I know. I have to tell you something, Gibbs."

"It couldn't wait?" He raised an eyebrow.

She shook her head slowly. "No, it could not."

"Well? What is it?"

"Gibbs, I- well, we-"

"What?"

"Tony and I are dating. There. I said it."

Gibbs smirked, leaning back a bit. Ziva mistook it for annoyance.

"I am sorry Gibbs. I wanted to tell you and I felt that you should know that we are breaking-"

"Don't be sorry."

Ziva's scared facial expression turned to one of shock.

"You are not…angry?"

"Why would I be?"

"Well-"

"I put that rule in place so that you wouldn't break it. I knew that if, by any chance, two teammates fell in love, the only way they would break it is if they were sure that they were in love. I saw it coming. You two were always close. But not the way a brother and sister could be, like most teammates are."

"You suspected something?"

"For a while now. You see, Ziva," Gibbs adjusted himself in his seat so that he was sitting forward, his hands folded on the boat, leaning towards her. "I've know you two would be together for a while now. You mended him after we lost Kate, Ziva. Even I wouldn't have been able to do that. Hell, I don't think even the most expensive therapists would have been able to. You did."

xxx

An hour later, Ziva exited the basement. Tony and her still had their jobs intact, and they still had Gibbs' trust. They had more than that. They seemed to have his admiration, as slight as it was, and as secretive it was. Apparently, the rule had been a rickety bridge. A bridge that only the couple that was strong enough could cross.

Tony and Ziva had crossed the bridge.

Gibbs and Ziva had also decided not to tell Tony of their meeting that night. Ziva would make Tony tell Gibbs again, just so that Gibbs could get the chance to fool with him. The team needed a laugh after all of the recent events. She jumped into Abby's car, starting the engine, a small, happy, and relieved smile on her face. She pulled out into the street and started driving.

xxx

As Abby crawled out of bed, she found Ziva already in the kitchen, fully clothed. She went ahead and got herself dressed, and headed to the kitchen, lurking behind Ziva, watching her cook.

"What are you cooking?"

"Pancakes. Would you like some?"

"Would I ever!"

By seven in the morning, the girls were on the road. Ziva had convinced Abby to let her drive, and Abby was regretting it already. Looking at the gas meter, Ziva decided to do Abby a favor and get gas for the car. Pulling into the first random station that she found, Ziva nor did Abby didn't question the abundance of trucks in it. Surely, that was normal for a truck to be getting gas. Surely, it was normal for four trucks to be at the same gas station. Getting out of the car, a man came up to her. The normal routine followed: Ziva told him how much gas she wanted to get, and the man put the nozzle in the car, nodding.

"Hey Ziva, I'm going to go get us some coffee, okay?" Ziva nodded at the scientist, who skipped away to the small gas station store. They had a coffee machine visible through the window, and Abby headed to it, liking the thought of getting morning coffee, even if it wasn't Caf-Pow. She didn't expect the twelve men inside of the store to suddenly attack her.

Overpowered, she was dragged into a back room, some man's hand over her mouth. At the same time, Ziva stood waiting for Abby to come back. She sensed something wrong, and, checking the time, realized that it had been over twelve minutes since Abby had entered the store. _It does not take that long to get coffee._ She looked towards the store. From the distant window she couldn't see anyone. Jogging to the store, she went inside.

Everything went dark.

* * *

**A/N: Don't kill me. I know what I'm doing... Kind of... Okay not really. So what do you guys want to see more of in the next chapters? And who do are the guys that took them? Hm? Oh, and thanks for all the reads and reviews! It really means a lot! **


	11. Evidence

Tony and McGee sat at their desks, typing away. McGee looked over at Tony.

"Hey Tony."

"What, McGee?"

"Where do you think Abby and Ziva are? They're normally supposed to be here at this time."

Tony had been tired, but with this new information, his senses were wide awake, and he lifted his head higher, looking at his co-worker.

"What time is it?"

"It's 9 in the morning."

As usual, Gibbs walked into the bullpen.

"Anything new on the case?"

"Boss, Ziva and Abby aren't here yet."

At McGee's comment, Gibbs froze in the middle of the bullpen. Looking over at Ziva's desk and realizing its empty, he looked back at McGee and DiNozzo. Both of them had stood up and where standing in front of the TV screen, worry lining their faces. Gibbs whipped out his phone, dialing Abby's number first. The other two watched.

No one answered.

Gibbs tried Ziva's number, hoping for more luck, increasing worry filling him with each ring.

A man's laugh filled the phone.

"Hello, Agent Gibbs, correct?"

Gibbs put the phone on speaker, pointing at McGee and Tony, who got to work trying to trace the call on McGee's computer.

"This is he. Who am I talking to?"

Once again, the man on the other end laughed.

"Ke'ev. Good luck tracing this. Maybe you'll actually find them in time."

He hung up.

"Got him boss!"

Gibbs crossed over to where the other two members of his team where, looking over DiNozzo's shoulder, who was looking over McGee's. "It's traced back to the bridge not to far from Abby's."

Without a word, Gibbs crossed back to his desk, grabbing his gear. The others followed suit, just as rapidly. Gibbs' face was stone cold, displaying no emotion. His eyes, however, conveyed a completely different story. His eyes were wide, and if one knew how to read them, they could see that he was terrified and worried, the way that a father with his children missing would be. Because Gibbs was a father, and still is. He had his four kids to take care of, and two were in trouble. One had already had many attempts to her life, and the other almost as many. Both meant the world to him, and in a matter of seconds, they might just disappear off of the face of the earth due to this man who had them somewhere, somewhere where Gibbs didn't know.

McGee was just as worried. Ziva had already been shot and whoever these guys where, he already knew she was their intended target. But Abby must have been with her when Ziva was taken. Which means either Abby is with her or something much worse happened to her. McGee pushed the thought of Abby and Ziva injured. He had seen the effects on Ziva once, and didn't want to see them now to on Abby. Not on the bright, happy scientist. He tried to be positive, hoping that maybe they were fine, and that Ke'ev hadn't harmed them.

Unlike McGee, Tony was going frantic. He tried not to show it, but his shallow breathing, pale face, and wide eyes would have given him away quickly, if anyone had bothered to pay attention. He worried for the woman he was in love with; he worried for the woman that he thought of as a sister. Both meant the world to him, and he knew that they meant the world to the rest of the team as well.

So all was silent as three team members worried and created horrible scenarios in their minds, begging themselves to be wrong.

xxx

The car screeched to a stop next to the end of the bridge. Since it stood over the water, part was sealed off, the part of the shore that the end of the bridge laid on, to be exact. But the team didn't care. After all, they were cops, and they were trying to find their two missing team mates. Gibbs got out of the drivers seat, and the others followed suit, looking a bit green, their expressions the same whenever either Gibbs or Ziva drove. They half ran, half walked, jumping over the railing to get to the small cave looking area right underneath the bridge before it met the river.

"See anything, Boss?"

Tony, Tim, and Jethro now stood underneath it, looking around, hoping for the slightest indication that they were here.

"The phone was traced back here. I'm sure of that."

They kept looking around, and Gibbs walked to the edge, to where the water met the shore. Bending down, he examined the sand.

"Uh, Boss?"

Taking out a tissue, Gibbs lifted something and turned around, showing the younger agents. It was a toy car, one that looked strikingly like Abby's. It was the size of Gibbs' hand, and he held it dangling with two fingers.

Seconds later, the team was searching the small area, digging in some parts of the sand, and investigating the water, and staring at the wall, looking for some sort of door or at least something of the sort. McGee was searching the wall, moving his hand on it, trying to find some sort of crack. They now knew that Abby and Ziva had been kidnapped in Abby's car, but they had yet to find where and how.

McGee sank to his knees, trying to feel the bottom of the wall, when his knees dug into something hard. Pulling away, grimacing, he thought it was a piece of glass. Looking down, he sees something that was seemingly a small, pinkish hand. Taking out a tissue like Gibbs had done, he pulled on it.

Out of the sand came an extremely small doll with brown hair. It was tall, and it wore Capri's and a white tank top. The doll was slightly tanned. It was practically a replica of Ziva, and it looked like it would fit in the car.

Holding it up, he shouted, "Boss! Got something!"

After a millisecond of shuffling, it was taken out of his hand, and McGee kept digging into the sand. _If there was one of Ziva, there should be one of Abby. She's missing, too. _After a few minutes and the joint effort of Tony and Tim, they finally uncovered the Abby doll. Turning around to show it to their boss with large eyes, they found him pulling at something on edge of the bridge's wall. It looked like one of those boxes in the wall you saw in movies, or a secret compartment. Apparently, Gibbs had found one, and was struggling to pull it open. Concrete boxes in concrete walls weren't the easiest to get out.

Working together, they got it open, falling onto the sand as they pulled and it suddenly popped out. Gathering their wits and dusting themselves from the sand, they looked into the box. It was a model of a gas station.

xxx

Ziva's eyes fluttered. She heard a voice close to her, and she knew it was female.

"Ziva David! You wake up right now!"

Her eyelids forced themselves open, and she slowly turned her head. Her focus coming into view, she could make out Abby sitting, her hands chained to the wall above her, causing her arms to be bent and dangling above her head. Ziva was chained the same way, and the chains rattled as she moved her arm to see Abby better.

"My head hurts."

"Not the time to think about that. Where are we?"

Ziva looked around. The room was small, the way a storage room was. On their right and left sides were shelves upon shelves of chips, water, and other things typically found at a gas station.

"We are still at the gas station. They must have locked us up in the closet."

Abby looked worried. "They… they won't know where we are."

"They will find us, Abby. They won't stop until they do. You should know that."

Abby's voice was barely a whisper as she spoke again. "What if they don't get here in time?"

"Abby. Listen to me. These men… they won't hurt you. They may hurt me, but not you. They would use you as a barter mechanism, if anything. But they wouldn't harm you in any way." It was silent for a few seconds. "We can't afford to think like this. They will find us, and we will be fine."

Ziva gave the dark haired girl a small, reassuring smile. "Do not worry."

Abby returned the small smile with one of her own.

"My butt hurts."

xxx

McGee stood crouched over the table in the basement. On the table was the model of a gas station, and in the car were Ziva and Abby. He was trying to figure out how they had gotten kidnapped, and he seemed to have an overall view of what happened. He just didn't know how many people did it.

Gibbs walked into the basement, handing McGee coffee.

"Thanks, Boss." He waved around the table. "I more or less figured it all out. Ziva and Abby were in the car. I'm guessing that Ziva was driving, since Abby doesn't normally stop for gas on the way to work. She's to tired to bother. They pull into the station. Inside the store, you could see that there is a coffee machine. One of them went in, and didn't come out. After a few minutes of waiting, the other one got worried and went in. Obviously, they were overpowered. One person couldn't have done the job, so it had to be at least 5 men involved."

"More, probably, McGee. One had to be working the gas station to know where they were coming, they had to have a few people walking around to make it seem more natural, and they had to have more than two people in the store to get Ziva and Abby down. Good job."

Gibbs walked out, most of his questions that had to do with the model answered. He went upstairs to where DiNozzo was trying to find the gas station. They knew it had to be along the route that Abby took to work, and they knew the overall gas manufacturer. However, there were five of those in the area, and they didn't have the time to investigate them all.

Tony decided to call each one, and ask questions. When Gibbs walked in, Tony was on the phone, waiting for someone to pick up the line. Gibbs stood in front of Tony's desk, watching him. Tony looked up at him, pointing to the phone with distaste. Gibbs just gave him a lopsided grin. He put down the phone.

"They didn't pick up."

"Which station was that?"

"The one closest to Abby's house. And the last one I called."

"How many times have you called them?"

"That was my third try."

"Call McGee. Get your gear."

Gibbs walked back to his desk as Tony quickly called McGee. Just as Gibbs walked by his desk toward the elevator, he put down the phone and grabbed his gear. He squeezed into the elevator right before it closed.


	12. Robot Agents

**A/N: I'm so sorry that this took forever you guys. I had writer's block and I don't have time to write on the weekdays because school is the worst. I'm sorry this is short; I wanted to get something up. Since you guys are probably wondering where the hell I'm going with this story, you'll see soon enough. It's not going to be much longer. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing! Hope you guys enjoy this chapter as well!**

* * *

Ziva and Abby sat in the storage room without a choice, talking, trying to soothe each others nerves. Although it didn't really work, they did take some comfort in the fact that they weren't alone.

Out of nowhere, the door burst open, and a man that Ziva recognized came in, carrying a gun. It was the man who had shot her only about a week ago, the same man who she knew had been sent by her father. Ziva automatically knew as soon as she saw him the game they were playing. No, they were not going to hurt Abby, not unless she complied. Or not unless she gave her own life. And she would do it in a heartbeat to save the usually happy scientist.

"Have you missed me, Ziva?"

Ziva glared at him, her eyes filled with hatred. "No. Why would I?"

He scoffed, amused. Abby looked from him to Ziva and back again. She was confused; it was obvious that they knew each other, but she didn't know from where they had met.

"I have a present for you."

Ziva didn't respond. She just glared at him, fuming. Ke'ev knocked on the door of the supply closet, and it opened. Tearing her eyes away from Ke'ev, she looked at the shape leaning against the now closed door.

She recognized the tan, oddly shaped, scarred face at once.

The other man in the storage room had gone to school with her. He had lived close by. She knew him well. Her breathe caught in her throat.

"Amit?"

He looked down, not wanting to be called by his name. She looked over to his hand, and noticed the gun in it.

Ziva knew the surprise.

xxx

Gibbs came to a screeching stop in front of the almost empty gas station. The only thing in it were five white trucks parked in random places, obviously set up in a way so that no one could see what was going on. As soon as he saw the layout, Gibbs knew they had come to the right place. Getting out of the car, Tim and Tony followed his lead, guns in hand, and ready to use them. Slowly yet surely, the three of them inched towards the gas station. The windows had been boarded up, as was the door that had probably been one with a large window, so the team couldn't see the inside.

Tony and Timothy stood beside the doors edges, one on each side, as Gibbs stood in the middle. He kicked open the door, and the three went in, guns up. Surveying the scene with darting eyes, they lowered their guns. Gibbs smiled.

xxx

Ziva looked from Amit over to Abby. Abby looked at her at the same time. Their eyes were conveying emotions that the two men in the room didn't understand, and didn't see.

Amit raised his gun slowly, but the two girls stayed with their eyes fixated on one another. Abby's eyes started to fill with tears, thinking the obvious: _What if this doesn't work? _

Ke'ev grinned at the dark-haired girl's expression. She looked pained, and he liked that. "Aw, do not worry. Your friend will go first. We have unfinished business with you, however."

Amit clicked his gun, ready to shoot now. Now, Ziva looked out of the corner of her eyes to watch the gun, and more importantly, his fingers. She saw him pressing down slowly, and she reacted.

She reached out with her legs like a ninja, hitting Ke'ev. Abby did the same, but hit Amit. Amit feel to his knees, and Ke'ev stumbled backwards. Ripping her hands forward, the chains that she and Abby had spent forever working on getting out of the wall came loose. She got up quickly, not wasting any time. But Ke'ev was quicker; he got to her first, and landed a solid punch, sending Ziva to the wall reeling.

Abby got to Amit faster. Kicking him in the head and causing him to fly into the wall, he slumped up, unconscious. Turning to where Ke'ev was approaching Ziva, she ran over to him, knocking him sideways. Ziva gathered her wits and raced over to where Abby stood over Ke'ev. Using the slab of wall that came with the chains, she punched him just as he was somehow able to get his hands around Abby's neck. His fingers came loose, and Abby backed up, her hand around her neck, and he fell to the ground.

Ziva bent down, checking for a pulse. There was a weak one, and she looked a bit relieved. Opening his jacket to the side, she pulled out a key and unchained the two sweating and red faced women.

They exited the room, aware of the fact that there were 10 more men. The men turned as they saw the girls in the doorway, and held up their guns. The two hit the ground at the first shot, and, using the rows of shelves as defense mechanisms, popped up from behind them randomly, hitting the men at a pressure point, causing them to fall. As Ziva punched a shorted man in the face, he flew backwards, knocking down a shelf, and had a heavy container of gasoline fall on him, knocking him out.

After ten minutes of struggling and an extra ten minutes of shuffling, Abby finished tying all of the men together with a chain. In the middle of the store was a circle of 12 men, unconscious. Their hands were typed with duct tape, as were their legs. Their legs were also taped to each other's. All around them was a bunch of chains, fastened tightly around them, and taped in some places to make it sturdier.

This was how Gibbs, Tony and Tim found the girls, leaning against the counter in front of a bunch of chained men.

"You guys alright?"

Abby jumped up, running to McGee, fastening her arms around his neck, and his arms circled around her protectively. Gibbs smiled at the agents. Ziva stood more slowly, worn out. Tony jogged over to her, helping her up. He put his arm around her waist, and put her arm over his shoulder, holding her up. He kissed her temple, relieved she was okay. They waited for the ambulance and the large amount of police cars before leaving.


	13. Couches and Lawyers

**A/N: I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in what was it? Three weeks? I've been super busy with school. I finally finished writing this today, so here it is. Sorry that it's on the short side again, I was rushing because I'm worried I might lose power from the storm and yeah. But I was nice and put in some McNozzo. Enjoy you guys! Thanks for R&R, it means a lot! xx**

* * *

Ziva and Abby sat in the back of the car with McGee. Ziva sat by the window behind the driver's seat, and Abby sat at the other end. McGee sat in the middle, and Abby's head rested on his shoulder.

Ziva was looking out the window, seemingly watching the houses and cars as they passed. In reality, she was thinking of Kate and what had happened in the gas station. Kate had told her to appreciate life's everyday moments. What could Ziva appreciate out of this huge mess?

Her first answer was automatically nothing. But she knew that that was not the answer Kate wanted; she felt it. So she was digging deeper, trying to figure out the good from the bad. On the bad side, there was the fact that her father has sent these men to kill her. One had shot her. They also kidnapped her and Abby. On the bright side.. it brought her and Tony together, something they both had wanted. It probably brought her and Gibbs closer as well. As for the kidnapping, at least she knew that Amit was alive. She had thought him dead, and no matter what he did, he was still a childhood friend, and a friend nevertheless.

Tony watched her out of the corner of his eyes. She looked deep in thought, and he wondered what she was thinking about. _Could she be reliving everything that had happened in the station? What even happened in the station in the first place?_

They had asked the routine series of questions, but naturally, part of the team felt as though Ziva was holding something back. Abby didn't know the names of any of the men, and Ziva claimed she didn't know them, which Tony didn't believe for an instant. There was a look in her eye as she watched the police carry the men out of the building and into the cop cars, an unmistakable look of pain. It had taken a while, but Tony was slowly learning to read her locked facial expressions, and this look was one he knew all to well by now.

So he watched her as she watched the window, wondering.

xxx

Back at headquarters, the team waited patiently in the elevator as it went up. The doors opened, and they filed out, heading straight towards their bullpen. Getting closer, they saw a familiar face standing in the middle of it, watching them.

"Hello, Leon."

"Gibbs. Is everyone alright?"

Gibbs looked back at his team, and they nodded, their words overlapping.

"Perfect."

"Fine."

"Great."

"Better now."

Director Vance managed a smile at the team. "Ziva, Abby, go home. You two look exhausted, and you deserve the day off."

Before they could open their mouths to resist, Gibbs stood in. "You heard him. Go home." He looked over at Tony and McGee, who were standing behind the girls. "You two also. McGee, I want you to stay with Abby. Tony, stay with Ziva. Get some sleep, and be here in the morning. Now scat."

They didn't even try to resist Gibbs' firm command. They went to their desks, grabbed their stuff, and with their heads lightly bowed, they headed right back for the elevator.

As soon as the elevator door was shut, Gibbs turned back to Vance.

"We need to do something. He will send more people after her, and I don't want another repeat of this. Ever again."

"But you don't want them to know you're going after him."

"I never said that. I just want them to have something to work with before I get them into this."

Vance nodded, and walked past Gibbs, who followed. Together, they headed for MTAC.

xxx

They had resolved between themselves to all go to McGee's house. It was the smallest of all of theirs, therefore it would be easier to, well, defend, if the time came. And it would be one of the last places anyone would look, as it was immediately ruled out that they were not going to Abby's or Ziva's homes, except to get a few pairs of clothes.

The sleeping arrangements did not need to be discussed. Abby and Ziva would sleep in McGee's bedroom, and Tony and McGee would sleep on the couch. Tim and Tony weren't all too happy with the prospect, but there was nothing else to be done; they couldn't find any inflatable mattresses.

The four finally hit the sack at around one in the morning. Tony and McGee glared at each other as they tried to get comfortable on the couch. McGee leaned over and turned off the bedside lamp.

"If you kick me tonight I swear McSleepy.."

"You start snoring and I'll think about it."

"I don't snore."

"That's not what I heard."

Tony whipped his head to look at his bunkmate in the dark. Luckily for McGee, Tony couldn't see the grin on his face.

"What did you hear?"

"Goodnight, Tony."

Tony's voice was a firm whisper. "McGee!"

xxx

Gibbs and Vance sat in the Director's office. It was late, but they needed to finish. They were talking to the NCIS lawyer, a prospect Gibbs wasn't thrilled about, but one that Vance forced him into.

They were trying to find out if they had the legal rights to formally investigate a potential arrest or something of the sort against Ziva's father. The lawyer was skeptical.

"I'm not sure.."

Gibbs finally spoke, for the first time in the hour longer meeting. "You're not sure about anything."

He rose, and started heading for the door.

"Gibbs!"

"I don't know about you, Leon, but I think I'm going to go with my gut on this one, which is telling me to nail this man once and for all. I'm not letting him get to Ziva, or any of my other agents ever again. He's dangerous, and I want this stopped. Now."

Vance didn't stop him. As the door closed, he turned back to the lawyer. "Do you think we have the legal rights."

"Well, in the-"

"No, no. I'm not asking what it says in the book. What does you gut say?"

The lawyer blinked at him, and she thought for a second. Then with all the seriousness in the world, she answered the director. "I agree with Agent Gibbs. I'd nail the sucker."

"Then that's all we need, thank you." Vance smiled, and rose to follow Gibbs.


End file.
